When all is said and done, the manager of any football club can do very little once the whistle blows.

He can't step over that white line to put his tactics into practice. And yet there are usually the fall guy when things go wrong.

Simon Grayson paid the price for his side's failure to halt an alarming slide down the Championship table, and as he has the final say on transfers, formations and how the side plays, that's fair enough.

But the players have also come in for their share of criticism this season. In fact, the fans have only really turned on Grayson during the draw with Bolton.

Grayson tweaked his selection once again, with changes from the side which were beaten 2-1 by Bristol City on Saturday. In came Robbin Ruiter, Marc Wilson, Adam Matthews and Callum McManaman has the then Sunderland manager tried to find that winning formula.